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ffishe
Community Member

A Client Gave me a Poor Rating but Opened a New Contract

Been working for this client since September 2018.  We started with an hourly contract and then last February, we switched to fixed weekly payments but for some reason, he kept the hourly contract open until now.

 

He told me that he wants me to work for him for a long time but the current exchange rate is unfavorable for him.  So we agreed to lower down the weekly payment a bit.  He closed the second contract and opened a new one 2 days later.  I did not leave a review for him after the second contract was closed so 14 days later, I just saw that he gave me a very low rating of 3.95.  Mind you, I already earned a total of $20k from him as of today so I did not expect that he'd give me a poor rating.  I am a Top Rated with 100% JSS, at least at the moment, and I am not sure if my JSS will go down by the end of today's JSS update because of this.  I think I am not qualified to ask again for a feedback removal since I have not completed 10 contracts yet after my last request.  I have very few clients in the last 12 months because I was working for the said client full time.

 

Is it advisable to contact him and ask why gave me such a low rating?  Why would he open a new contract immediately if he was not satisfied with my service?  And my earnings from him is a significant amount so I really don't understand the poor rating he gave.

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tlsanders
Community Member

Perhaps, rather than questioning his rating, you could say something like, "I noticed that you rated me 3s and 4s in some areas. Since we're continuing to work together, it would be helpful to know exactly what you're not happy with so I can make any necessary changes moving forward."

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15 REPLIES 15
r_satta
Community Member

Actually, 3.95 is not a low rating. It's just not a perfect rating. We are used to 1 = bad and 5 = good, but it shouldn't be like that.
That's why even YouTube stopped using the 5 stars rating system years ago.

Obviously I should expect a 5/5 rating if I worked for somebody for years, earning 20k. You can always ask why the client decided to give such a rating since you worked for him/her for such a long time

re: "Obviously I should expect a 5/5 rating if I worked for somebody for years, earning 20k."

 

No, that's not right at all.

 

There should be no such expectation.

Unless you are perfect.


Are you perfect?


Preston H wrote:

re: "Obviously I should expect a 5/5 rating if I worked for somebody for years, earning 20k."

 

No, that's not right at all.

 

There should be no such expectation.

Unless you are perfect.


Are you perfect?


It was a generic comment. If I worked for 2 years for the same client and the last 2 months my work ha been indeed really bad, obviously I shouldn't expect a 5/5 rating. 
But if the client is still working with me after years, giving me 20k, with immaculate communication, without giving me any hint of my work being bad, etc., I should expect a 5/5.

ffishe
Community Member


Roberto S wrote:

Actually, 3.95 is not a low rating. It's just not a perfect rating. We are used to 1 = bad and 5 = good, but it shouldn't be like that.
That's why even YouTube stopped using the 5 stars rating system years ago.

Obviously I should expect a 5/5 rating if I worked for somebody for years, earning 20k. You can always ask why the client decided to give such a rating since you worked for him/her for such a long time



Thank you for sharing your view about the stars rating system.  It gave me another perspective.

 

Been working for him for 9 months only and the earnings is consistent and significant.  9 months is already considered a "long-term" contract based on my experience with Upwork.  I will just ask him as nicely as I could so as not to appear confrontational.

wlyonsatl
Community Member

First of all, if you know you will keep working for him regardless of why he says he gave you a low rating, then accept the new project and have a friendly conversation about why he gave you such a low rating. 

 

If you are not sure you will work for him any more if he can't explain the low rating, ask him why he gave you a low rating and then decide whether to accept the new job.

 

You might learn something useful when he tells you why he gave you the low rating, such as his misunderstanding that three stars is an average rating (a logical conclusion Upwork's JSS ignores) and he thought he was doing a good thing by giving you four stars.

 

A stellar rating in the highly flawed JSS system should not be your first priority here on Upwork - making as much money as you can under terms that suit you should. He's paid you a good deal of money and you apparently have gotten along with him without a problem - don't kills a goose that's laying golden eggs for you.. 

By the way, there are posters here who are adamant a freelancer should never discuss ratings with clients. 

 

That is very bad advice - many clients know little or nothing about how the JSS is calculated, so the ratings they give can be all over the place. The JSS is the only rating system I've ever heard of where any rating less than a perfect 5.0 is considered as an indication of faulty performance by the person or thing being rated.

ffishe
Community Member


Will L wrote:

First of all, if you know you will keep working for him regardless of why he says he gave you a low rating, then accept the new project and have a friendly conversation about why he gave you such a low rating.

 

If you are not sure you will work for him any more if he can't explain the low rating, ask him why he gave you a low rating and then decide whether to accept the new job.

 

You might learn something useful when he tells you why he gave you the low rating, such as his misunderstanding that three stars is an average rating (a logical conclusion Upwork's JSS ignores) and he thought he was doing a good thing by giving you four stars.

 

Sorry for not making it clear.  I accepted the new offer way before his rating showed up on my profile because there was no indication that he'd give me a rating that low.  I do not know how he'll respond but I definitely need at least a friendly conversation with him regarding the rating.  I am also giving him the benefit of the doubt as he is relatively new to the platform.  I was his second hire on Upwork.  He gave his first a 1-star because the freelancer suddenly stopped communicating.

 

 

A stellar rating in the highly flawed JSS system should not be your first priority here on Upwork - making as much money as you can under terms that suit you should. He's paid you a good deal of money and you apparently have gotten along with him without a problem - don't kills a goose that's laying golden eggs for you.. 


 

Your advice sounds good!  I am just surprised with the rating because I was expecting not lower than 4.8 as I am already on my third contract with him.

 


Will L wrote:

By the way, there are posters here who are adamant a freelancer should never discuss ratings with clients. 

 

That is very bad advice - many clients know little or nothing about how the JSS is calculated, so the ratings they give can be all over the place. The JSS is the only rating system I've ever heard of where any rating less than a perfect 5.0 is considered as an indication of faulty performance by the person or thing being rated.


I agree.  Freelancers should also help educate the clients in a professional way, especially the new ones.

petra_r
Community Member


Shirley S wrote:

  And my earnings from him is a significant amount so I really don't understand the poor rating he gave.


I wouldn't worry about the 4 out 5, it is not "poor feedback" and considering that it seems the JSS has updated already and your JSS is still 100%, it can't have hurt you. Chances are the private feedback was great.

 

 

ffishe
Community Member


Petra R wrote:


I wouldn't worry about the 4 out 5, it is not "poor feedback" and considering that it seems the JSS has updated already and your JSS is still 100%, it can't have hurt you. Chances are the private feedback was great.

 

 


Thank you.  I also hope that his rating did not affect my JSS, but I read in other threads that JSS updates a few hours after the Last updated  date in My Stats page.

petra_r
Community Member


Shirley S wrote:

Petra R wrote:


I wouldn't worry about the 4 out 5, it is not "poor feedback" and considering that it seems the JSS has updated already and your JSS is still 100%, it can't have hurt you. Chances are the private feedback was great.

 

 


Thank you.  I also hope that his rating did not affect my JSS, but I read in other threads that JSS updates a few hours after the Last updated  date in My Stats page.


If you can see his feedback then the contract must have ended more than 24 days ago (as you did not leave feedback (WHY??)) - so if it would have affected you, it would have done so already during the last update.

That means all the hysteria (not yours) over less than 5 stars being some kind of disaster is nothig more than hot air.

 

Clearly the private feedback was good enough to mean that the contract did not affect your JSS at all, as you are still on 100%

 

ffishe
Community Member


Petra R wrote:


If you can see his feedback then the contract must have ended more than 24 days ago (as you did not leave feedback (WHY??)) - so if it would have affected you, it would have done so already during the last update.

That means all the hysteria (not yours) over less than 5 stars being some kind of disaster is nothig more than hot air.

 

Clearly the private feedback was good enough to mean that the contract did not affect your JSS at all, as you are still on 100%

 


Ohhh... is that how it works?  Yes, that contract ended on June 5 and there was a JSS update on June 9.  Can the client end the contract and give feed back (private and/ or public) at a later time?  I don't know how it works on the client side but freelancers are given 14 days to rate the client.

petra_r
Community Member


Shirley S wrote:

Clearly the private feedback was good enough to mean that the contract did not affect your JSS at all, as you are still on 100%

 


Ohhh... is that how it works?  Yes, that contract ended on June 5 and there was a JSS update on June 9.  Can the client end the contract and give feed back (private and/ or public) at a later time?  I don't know how it works on the client side but freelancers are given 14 days to rate the client.


The person who closes the contract has to leave feedback while ending the contract. The person who does not end the contract has 14 days to do so (or not.)

 

So we know for a fact that the client's 4 star feedback did not affect your JSS at all, because it was and still is 100%.

ffishe
Community Member


Petra R wrote:


The person who closes the contract has to leave feedback while ending the contract. The person who does not end the contract has 14 days to do so (or not.)

 

So we know for a fact that the client's 4 star feedback did not affect your JSS at all, because it was and still is 100%.


Thank you for this, Petra!  I will probably put a reply so his rating won't look bad to other potential clients.  But I will definitely have a friendly discussion with him to know more about the things he wants me to improve.

tlsanders
Community Member

Perhaps, rather than questioning his rating, you could say something like, "I noticed that you rated me 3s and 4s in some areas. Since we're continuing to work together, it would be helpful to know exactly what you're not happy with so I can make any necessary changes moving forward."

ffishe
Community Member


Tiffany S wrote:

Perhaps, rather than questioning his rating, you could say something like, "I noticed that you rated me 3s and 4s in some areas. Since we're continuing to work together, it would be helpful to know exactly what you're not happy with so I can make any necessary changes moving forward."


Thanks, Tiffany.  I believe that's a good approach.

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